Well that answered that… kind of?
A recently resurfaced clip featuring Michael Caine may have unravelled the final mystery of Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending 2010 hit Inception once and for all.
The clip from 2018 currently making the rounds on social media in celebration of the film’s 12th birthday today sees the 89-year-old British acting legend introducing a screening of Nolan’s movie while recalling a chat he had with the the director before cameras rolled on the production.
Turns out, Caine was just as confused as we were at the film’s is-it-a-dream, is-it-reality-based plot and was unable to determine which scenes were real and which took place in Leo DiCaprio’s head.
“When I got the script of Inception, I was a bit puzzled by it and I said to him ‘I don’t understand where the dream is’,” he explained. “I said, ‘When is it the dream and when is it reality?’ He said, ‘Well when you’re in the scene it’s reality.’ So get that – if I’m in it, it’s reality. If I’m not in it, it’s a dream.”
Fair warning, Inception spoilers ahead…
The mysterious final scene of Inception sees the protagonist Dom Cobb, played by DiCaprio, finally permitted into the US after having his crimes wiped from his record. We see him finally reunited with his kids and his own father, played by Caine – and just before the screen turns black, viewers are left with an image of Cobb’s spinning top, often used throughout the film to help our hero determine which moments are real and which are dreams.
Fucking masterpiece
My goat movie
— JB 🇯🇲 (@J11Butler) July 13, 2022
Just before the totem topples – signifying that these events are indeed taking place in reality – Nolan cuts to black.
The filmmaker has since argued that the ending is “subjective” however Caine’s own experience would seemingly point to the scene being real. Still, the question is somewhat unanswered and, if anything, merely doubles down on Nolan’s own explanation.
Though their arguments are conflicting, Caine personally thanked the Dark Knight director for casting him as Alfred Pennyworth in 2005’s Batman Begins reigniting his career later in life.
I saw this movie 11 times. Always amazing.
*BWOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM* https://t.co/r37EohnGqb
— Wes 🔞 (@wesley__pires) July 14, 2022
He explained: “I regard him as my lucky charm because when I got to an age of about 70 and the world started closing in on me, he came to me with one Batman Begins and he restarted my acting life.
“Because from then on when I thought you get to 70, 75, and you think it’s all over I then made seven of the best movies I was ever in.”
Related links:
- Sir Michael Caine says work offers have ‘dried up’
- Multimillionaire actor Michael Caine would rather be ‘poor with Brexit’ than rich in the EU
- Christian Bale says he will play Batman again under one condition
